Upon hearing Shen Yun's stern rebuke, Wang Yuan's heart tightened, and she felt extremely flustered. What if Shen Yun discovered her identity and, in a moment of madness, exposed her?

She had worked so hard to get to where she was now, how could she let someone else ruin it? She had to find a way to make a quick getaway.

Shen Yun must have mistaken her for Ning Yin just now, which is why he wanted to take her away.

Thinking of this, Wang Yuan put on a pitiful look, tears welling up in her eyes.

Then she said, "Brother Yun, it's not that I don't want to leave with you, it's just that the baby in my belly can't withstand a long journey. Once the baby is born safely, I'll find a way to go with you, okay?"

As she spoke, she reached out and touched her lower abdomen. She assumed that Ning Yin's child was Shen Yun's, so Shen Yun would definitely not forcibly take her away.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Shen Yun's eyes darkened even more, and his gaze seemed to see right through her.

"Stop pretending! Ah Yin wouldn't be as pretentious as you. Disgusting! How dare you impersonate Ah Yin? Did you do something to hurt Ah Yin? Tell me!"

Shen Yun's eyes widened in anger, and he tightened his grip, making Wang Yuan's slender wrist crack.

"Brother Yun, are you crazy? You don't even recognize me? Look closely, am I your Ayin?"

Wang Yuan lifted her face slightly, wanting Shen Yun to see more clearly. She had repeatedly checked in the mirror today and was confident that her makeup skills were convincing enough to fool the eye.

Shen Yun narrowed his eyes, his whole body exuding a fierce aura. He chuckled and said coldly, "So what if you look similar? You are not her. She would never be as pretentious as you. Your attempt to imitate her is a complete failure. Since you are not A Yin, I will kill you now."

Without saying a word, Shen Yun drew his long sword and held it to her neck. Wang Yuan was so frightened that she begged for mercy, "Brother Yun, have you forgotten that we went to the State of Chu together? You even swept the graves of my mother and grandmother."

Wang Yuan thought that if she talked more about their past, Shen Yun would believe her. Little did she know that the blade was incredibly sharp and had already sliced ​​through her neck.

A sharp pain shot through her, and blood flowed freely. Her face turned ashen.

She wanted to shout, but Shen Yun's imposing aura didn't allow her to make the slightest move; her head might really roll off the ground in the next second.

"Brother Yun, please don't kill me, please, you can do whatever you want, just please don't kill me, okay?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she desperately tried to control her emotions. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, Shen Yun's expression froze for a moment. He suddenly felt a pang of sympathy; after all, she looked exactly like A Yin, and he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Just as Shen Yun was lost in thought, Wang Yuan suddenly pushed him away and then ran outside as fast as she could.

Only when she reached Chen Dechang and saw a group of Qingyu Guards standing guard beside him did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Chen Dechang turned his head and saw Wang Yuan's disheveled appearance, especially the wound on her neck, which was still oozing blood.

"What's going on!"

He hurriedly instructed the imperial physician beside him, "Quickly bandage the Empress."

The imperial physician was accompanying them; Chen Dechang was afraid that the mission might be dangerous, so he brought the imperial physician along as well.

Unexpectedly, this lowly maid was injured as soon as she arrived. Chen Dechang reacted quickly and, before Wang Yuan could speak, he gave the Qingyu Guard a wink.

But when the Qingyu Guards went in, Shen Yun was nowhere to be found.

Chen Dechang looked at Wang Yuan, who was still in shock, with suspicion, and said coldly, "Your Majesty, who was inside just now? Why didn't you call for help?"

"Just now, a black-winged masked man suddenly jumped down from inside, held a long sword to my neck, and told me not to shout. I didn't dare to shout, and then I took advantage of a moment when he wasn't paying attention to run out."

Wang Yuan was telling the truth, but she didn't reveal Shen Yun's identity. After all, she was now Junzhu, and Junzhu didn't know Shen Yun at all. Besides, if Shen Yun were really caught, he might implicate her as well. She was now hoping that Shen Yun would run away quickly and not fall into Chen Dechang's hands, otherwise she wouldn't even know how she died.

Chen Dechang clearly had a keen eye and immediately saw that Wang Yuan was lying. However, he did not press the matter further. The most important thing now was to treat the wound and then hurry to the altar.

Soon, the imperial physician treated Wang Yuan's wound. It was very shallow, with only a little blood on the surface. After applying hemostatic medicine and some skin-whitening ointment, she was fine.

"Put another layer of makeup on the Empress."

Seeing that the wound was shallow, Chen Dechang did not need to bandage it. Instead, he ordered the palace maids to apply another layer of rouge to Wang Yuan's neck, so that it looked almost completely unmarked.

After doing all this, he ordered someone to bring Wang Yuan a bowl of medicine, which was dark in color and said it could help calm her nerves.

Wang Yuan was still shaken and her mind was blank. She did whatever Chen Dechang told her to do.

He took the bowl of medicine and drank it all in one gulp.

When the group arrived at the Temple of Heaven, Xiao Xuan had already lit an incense stick in front of the altar.

Chen Dechang brought Wang Yuan to Xiao Xuan's side, nodded to Xiao Xuan, and then stepped aside.

Xiao Xuan didn't even look at her directly. Instead, he lifted his robe and knelt down on the prayer mat. When Wang Yuan saw Xiao Xuan kneel down, she quickly knelt down as well.

The fake abbot beside them handed the two a handful of bright yellow incense sticks and said, "The heavenly gods have arrived. Your Highness and Your Majesty, please pray sincerely, admit your mistakes to the heavenly gods, and ask for their forgiveness."

Wang Yuan didn't know what the fake abbot meant. Today was supposed to be her investiture ceremony, so why was this monk saying such strange things?

But she dared not ask any more questions or think any more. She could only follow Xiao Xuan's example and close her eyes devoutly. After a while, Xiao Xuan opened his eyes, placed the incense on the altar, stood up, and nodded to Chen Dechang.

Wang Yuan secretly opened her eyes at this moment and saw that Xiao Xuan had gotten up. She also put the incense into the altar and then got up with Chen Dechang's help.

The fake abbot, with an inscrutable expression, bowed to Xiao Xuan and said, "Amitabha, the gods have accepted Your Highness's repentance. Now, Your Highness, please ascend the altar to complete your final petition so that you may receive the sweet rain."

Xiao Xuan nodded, and the fake abbot's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, his eyes revealing a sinister glint.

He waved to the four burly monks beside him, and the four monks immediately stepped forward and lifted Wang Yuan up on her back.

Before Wang Yuan could react, she felt herself suddenly lifted into the air. Her heart pounded in fright. She stared at the expressionless Xiao Xuan, desperately wanting to scream, but found that her mouth opened and closed, yet she couldn't utter a single word.